Monday, December 03, 2007

The BreakdownAfter a crazy week of conference challenge games - many of which pitted two ranked teams against each other - there was, as expected, considerable shakeup in the bracket. Most of the biggest changes came in the form of seed adjustments, both positive and negative, for big conference teams. What made seeding difficult this week - and what makes it so challenging this early in the season in general - is that many mid-major or middle-of-the-pack big conference teams have played tougher schedules, and have better wins in a lot of cases, than their more talented or higher seeded counterparts. It's up to us to project whether those teams will maintain their level of play once conference play starts, and we then seed the teams based on what they have done and how we see them finishing in their respective leagues.

In this week's bracket, the only conference to pick up an additional bid was the Valley, as Creighton took New Mexico's place in the field after the Lobos lost to Mississippi. The last couple of spots out of the Big East and SEC continue to be very fluid, with three changes being made this week in those conferences alone.

Out This BracketConnecticut, Seton Hall, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Carolina A&T, Monmouth, Alabama State

In This BracketProvidence, Creighton, Mississippi, West Virginia, Hampton, Robert Morris, Alabama A&M

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Wow. FSU as a 10-seed. I go to FSU and many of the games. I just don't see them as being a better team than last year. I'd love to see us in the tournament, but our rebounding is paltry. The ACC is stacked. FSU's gotta win some big games to get in. Our non-conference schedule is weak. I see us doing like we have over the past 2 seasons. Starting out well in conference play and then fading at the end of the season, barely missing the tournament.

You're right about the ACC - the league is stacked, and who will end up finishing sixth or seventh is anyone's guess right now. FSU was given the seventh ACC bid over Maryland or BC to this point in large part because of the 'Noles W over Florida, but that probably won't be the case come next week. FSU will likely be replaced in next week's bracket by the winner of Sunday's Maryland-BC game. If the Terps win, it would be their second nice W of the year, and if BC wins, they'd get the seventh spot for picking up a quality win on the road.

You really need to explain the Providence pick. Nice win in Boston considering they blew a 21 point lead and they follow that up with consecutive losses to URI and South Carolina. (Yes, URI won at Syracuse as did UMass.)

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